


The Debt Collector

by tiny_maus_boots



Series: The Debt Collector [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Additional warning in the specific chapter, Domestic Violence, Drama & Romance, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-03-17 05:51:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18959179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_maus_boots/pseuds/tiny_maus_boots
Summary: It had started out small time. Just like any other bet she’d made book on before.





	1. The Debt Collector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very special thank you to kate-harper for her mood board, link below and picture at the end of this chapter.

Now with [mood board ](https://kate-harper.tumblr.com/post/185140416081/the-debt-collector-by-tiny-maus-boots-and-stacie)by [kate-harper](https://kate-harper.tumblr.com/).

* * *

 

It had started out small time. Just like any other bet she’d made book on before. Aubrey hadn’t thought anything of it when Cynthia Rose had introduced the leggy brunette at an exclusive poker night for some of the more influential members of the criminal underworld community. Truth be told she had assumed that Stacie was part of the night’s entertainment like so many other beautiful men and women lounging around the opulent living room. Hadn’t even given her a second glance really until she settled in the seat next to Aubrey and started shuffling the deck like a woman used to the game.

It should have been a red flag. A giant warning of what was to come.

But Aubrey didn’t see it. She was too caught up in the curious and calculating gaze of the most beautiful woman she’d ever laid her eyes on. If asked she would have denied it but there was definitely something she found herself wanting in the gentle sway of long tresses casually thrown over a shoulder and the twitch of a smile that was equal parts playful and predatory. Oh she wanted this Stacie Conrad alright. Bad enough that if she had seen the flag she might have ignored it altogether. But Aubrey was used to the game too and she wasn’t easily distracted.

It had taken months to finally get that woman out of her mind. Nothing had happened, beyond Stacie cleaning out each and every player at the table. She took them all for everything they’d brought and somehow managed to leave with all of them laughing along with her and smiling adoringly. It was a feat Aubrey wasn’t quite sure how the woman had managed and it had become the focus of her slight obsession.

And then one day she was there in the smoky billiard bar that served as home for her office. The Dirty Bird wasn’t exactly a sweet café on Melrose, it was a place people went to drink and forget while they bet on the local basketball game. Stacie Conrad didn’t fit in at all with her short white sheath dress that hugged her body in all the right places and a pair of hideous Saint Laurent Yeti Feather boots that she made work despite the fact that they covered most of those amazing legs. When Stacie’s searching gaze landed on Aubrey she stalked forward with the confidence of a large jungle cat homing in on its prey.

Aubrey closed her ledger and slid it to the side before giving Lilly a short jerk of her head to let her know it was okay to let Stacie pass. The slight and more often than not silent woman resumed her casual slouch on a stool nearby, playing idly with the butterfly knife that she had earned a reputation for using. Usually at Aubrey’s behest.

“Stacie Conrad. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

Stacie leaned forward on the table, palms flat and steady as she smiled in a way that unsettled Aubrey just a bit. “I’d like to make a bet.”

“Yeah? How about this…I’ll pay you to burn those boots. Better than a bet, it’s free money.”

Those full lips pulled into a grin that Aubrey had to restrain herself from kissing. “You planning on taking them off me?”

And so it had started.

Small time bets. A hundred here, three there. All on a semi regular basis, and thankfully Miss Conrad’s luck the night of the game hadn’t lasted as long as her current six month betting streak had. Aubrey had seen it before in other gamblers, they always started small and worked their way into a hole they could never buy their way out of. It happened because they always underestimated her, a woman in a largely male dominated business. Maybe it was the lipstick, or the breasts, but for some reason men seemed to think she was soft and wouldn’t collect. So they bet, and they bet…and they bet.

Until they had less than nothing to lose. Except fingers or toes and sometimes kneecaps.

It was a crummy line of work to be in sometimes but after a few debts had been collected on she’d earned quite a reputation herself. Aubrey didn’t believe in contracting out collectors, it was a waste of money and she didn’t trust someone else to broker a deal on her behalf. So when the chips were down and you were in over your head and late on your payment it was Aubrey herself that came to your door. Or your job. Or your mistress’ house. Or the STD trap you call a strip club where you find solace when you’re just too down in the dumps to be a decent human. It didn’t matter where, Aubrey would find you.

Now. Six months and 250 grand in, she found herself parked across the street from the large gated estate and sighed. She hadn’t wanted Stacie Conrad to be one of those marks. Every bet the woman placed had turned into a sparring match between them, the winner determined by however the bet played out. But now…

“Jesus.” Aubrey sighed and pulled her gun out of glove box. She checked the clip as she always did and pulled the slide back to chamber a round. She made a gesture with her hand and Lilly started the car and moved them to the street in front of the house just as a man pulled up on the inside of the gate in an Aston Martin. “Wait for me here. If he comes back before I’m back…put him out.”

Lilly nodded and her lips moved but Aubrey didn’t hear a single word.

“Okay you know I can’t even hear you right? Just. Don’t kill him. Yet.”

Her enforcer gave an annoyed huff and stared straight ahead. Aubrey stared at her for a second longer before getting out of the car and sliding the gun into the paddle holster at the small of her back. The man pulled out into the street oblivious to her as she slipped through the gate and made her way to the front door. Aubrey brought her fist up to knock but it opened before she could.

“I thought you might drop by.” Stacie had said it as if this were just some warm afternoon tea and not something more serious and dangerous. “You want to come in?”

There was something weighted to the words that left Aubrey wondering if they held a deeper meaning. She narrowed her eyes but pushed into the home, shutting the door firmly behind her and turning the bolt with a final sounding click before she faced Stacie. “You know why I’m here?”

“Of course.” Stacie moved from the foyer, down the hall and into a large first floor office. Aubrey couldn’t take her eyes off the sway of the brunette’s hips as she followed her. Stacie turned her head, looking over her shoulder to catch her at it with a smug smile. “You always seemed like a very hands on business woman. I like that about you Aubrey Posen.”

Aubrey narrowed her eyes again as Stacie slid a door open on a credenza along the wall. Reflex made her reach back and wrap her hand around the grip of her gun. Stacie  _seemed_ reasonable but she also had seemed like the type to pay her debts and Aubrey was there because it was clear she didn’t.

Street people she could read, the everyday Joe that drank too much and gambled a little too often, she could call them a mile away. But she had never dealt with anyone quite like Stacie before and wasn’t entirely sure this wouldn’t flip on her somehow. So it was caution that made her draw the gun and hold it lightly in her hand, the other clasped on top.

Stacie took in a deep breath and smiled wider. “A woman with a gun and deadly intent. Be still my fluttering heart.”

She quirked her lips in a smirk and shrugged. “What can I say? Chicks dig it.”

There was a quiet hum of agreement before Stacie turned to the safe tucked into the credenza. Aubrey waited patiently while it was opened and several stacks of bills were pulled out. She really wasn’t that interested in what else Stacie had in there besides the fact that there wasn’t a weapon that she could see, but the  _money_. Jesus Christ. Stacie placed her due on the top of the table and turned to Aubrey with satisfied gesture.

“Your payment. In full of course.”

“Lady. Are you out of your fucking mind? You got at least a cool mil in there and you’ve been ducking me for three months? Do you know who I am?” Stacie had to know, she was friends with Cynthia Rose, and she made regular bets. She had to know who Aubrey was. What she was. It infuriated her and pushed into the other woman’s personal space, grabbing her roughly by the arm. This could have ended badly, so very very badly.

And Stacie laughed. God that laugh. It chased a shiver down her spine and Aubrey wanted to feel that laugh against her lips but she pressed the barrel of her gun to Stacie’s ribs and gave her a shake. “It’s not the money baby, it’s the thrill of winning.”

Aubrey blinked at her in confusion trying to puzzle out where Stacie had won. “You lost.” It wasn’t as sure a statement as it could have been and she felt the need to reinforce how grave a situation Stacie was in. “I came here to put holes in you.”

Those perfect pink lips curled up in a smile and she ran her hand down the buttons of Aubrey’s vest. “Hmm. Did you now…”

This time Aubrey  _knew_ there was something more in the words and she brought her free hand up wrap around Stacie’s neck, bringing her closer for a hungry kiss that was all tongue and teeth. Insistent hands pushed the tailored suit jacket over her shoulders to drop on the ground. Aubrey put her gun on the credenza and lifted Stacie on top it easily. Their kisses were frantic and hot, neither one interested in being the loser. But as Stacie’s teeth closed delicately over the pulse in her neck she couldn’t help but think they were both winning this time.

* * *

 

  


	2. The Queen

The sound of her phone chiming from somewhere in the nest of pillows and blankets she’d made was enough to rouse Stacie from her light doze. It was late. Far too late to be getting messages from anyone. Her brow puckered in a frown and she dug her hand around the sheets to find her phone. When she couldn’t find it right away she gave up and rolled over in bed, trying to find a position that felt right and safe. That felt like home.

But without Aubrey nothing felt like anything anymore. Stacie sighed and burrowed down further pulling the blanket over her head. It had been doomed from the start and she knew that but she had fooled herself into thinking that maybe, just maybe, this one fucking time she could have something real and honest. She’d been wrong of course. Not about the honesty, Aubrey, for all her questionable business dealings had been oddly earnest and truthful.

More honest than any of her previous experiences had ever been. She missed that. Probably would always miss it. She would probably always miss  _Aubrey_. Tears welled up and she took a deep breath, holding it until her lungs burned and begged for her to release it. She held it longer still and maybe hoped or prayed that she could hold it forever. But her body wouldn’t let her will it into suffocation and she gasped out a breath that was more of a sob than anything else.

She didn’t even know why she expected Aubrey to stick around. They had been playing a dangerous game sneaking around together. She’d instigated this whole affair by pursuing Aubrey, seeking her out and placing increasingly bad bets just to see how far she could push the blonde. It had been a gambling game right from the start but she couldn’t have stopped herself even if she had really wanted to.

Aubrey had an allure that struck a chord in her. She was cool and collected, quietly commanding, and the way she looked at Stacie. Jesus and Joseph. The way she fucking looked at Stacie. No one had ever looked at her with such intensity before. And the thought of those pale jade eyes on her was often enough to make her body clench with a pulse of desire. So she’d chased the other woman, recklessly, carelessly, desperately…

That’s how every minute with Aubrey left her feeling. Desperate for more of everything the woman was. Weston could never understand that type of need. It had nothing to do with his impotence really, there were toys and so many other things they could have done to fill that desire in each of them but it wasn’t about his physical limitations. He simply couldn’t understand that kind of need because he couldn’t understand love. The painful truth was that Stacie had felt more loved in six months of fucking a mobster than she had in six years of marriage to a pillar of the community.

Worse still was the knowledge that she had fucked it all up. What did she expect Aubrey to do exactly? Say nothing when she showed up with marks and bruises she couldn’t explain? Did she expect her to feel badly for Stacie? To pity her? Or had she just hoped that Aubrey would accept it without comment?

It was fine hiding it from everyone else. No one ever saw her less than one hundred percent put together, and no one cared enough to ask even if they had noticed. But she couldn’t hide that from Aubrey and didn’t want to lie or make excuses because there just weren’t enough lies to cover up her shame and definitely not enough excuses to put her heart back together again every time his swinging fist broke it.

_“Why do you stay?”_

_She had given a half laugh and taken the cigarette from Aubrey’s fingers for a long drag. Stacie let the smoke curl up around her head giving her a convenient cover for the panic rising in her eyes. If she told Aubrey…if she knew…it could end. Stacie ashed the cigarette out in the crystal ash tray on the nightstand debating the benefits of distracting Aubrey long enough to make them forget what they were talking about in the first place. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Aubrey’s gaze so she closed her eyes and dropped her head back to the pillow instead of Aubrey’s chest._

_“Some things are just better not knowing.”_

_The silence was broken by Aubrey’s body turning toward her but she still didn’t open her eyes. Soft fingers traced the line of her brow and down the bridge of her nose in a delicate caress that left Stacie trembling with a sudden fear that this was going to be the only love she’d ever experience again._

_“Tell me.”_

_It wasn’t a demand. Not exactly. But she couldn’t seem to disobey the command in the words either. Stacie swallowed and let out a deep sigh._

_“He’s done things, he’s made **me**  do things…” It was humiliating but she pressed on knowing that she had to give Aubrey something solid she could understand. “There are…movies. If I leave they get out and all my work at the shelter gets undermined. I’ll lose important benefactors that the charity can’t afford to lose. It could ruin everything I’ve worked for and worse put all those women in danger. They need help. So I can’t Aubrey. I  **can’t**. Leave.”_

But Aubrey could leave. And she had. Not physically in the moment but she’d gone the kind of quiet that Stacie associated with Aubrey at her angriest and darkest of moments. Aubrey was never a big talker but a silence like that, it meant things. So she knew how it would end with them when Aubrey walked out the door and didn’t look back even once as she drove away. Stacie couldn’t bring herself to blame the blonde. She found herself hard pressed not to be disgusted by what she was too. Which was apparently nothing. Less than maybe.

The screen on her phone lit up in reminder that she had a new unread message and she reached for it slowly. Stacie entered her passcode and let her eyes drift over the messages. 28 of them all unread and unanswered. Some from Weston, some from members of the charity she founded, some from friends, none of them worth her attention or a second glance. And one. One that hadn’t been there before. Stacie sat up quickly and looked at the text, rereading it several times. It was short. Direct. And all business.

I’m coming over.

So this was it then. The final word between them. Stacie flung the phone away and rubbed her hands over her face. Fine. Fucking fine. She understood what was happening, what was going to happen, and she knew she couldn’t change it or stop it but she was going to face it on her terms. She’d let Aubrey know, let her see everything Stacie was, all she could be, because a part of her wanted Aubrey to long for her too. She wanted it to hurt when Aubrey walked away because then at least then she wouldn’t be forgotten. Not for a long time.

Stacie slid out of bed and padded into her closet to pull open drawers with savage determination. If Aubrey was going to leave then let her miss the feel of Stacie’s skin, the taste of her lips, and the heat they shared together. Let her miss all of it. She worked the hose over her legs with an easy grace that comes from having done the same thing many times in the past, though never with the same thrill of anticipation that she always got when she did it for Aubrey. Stacie clipped her garters to the tops of her thigh highs and eased into her bra with a critical eye at the matching bra and panty set. Oh yes, Aubrey would definitely miss her.

It didn’t take her long to make herself happy with her appearance. A little make up went a long way in settling her racing heart. She almost thought about covering up the fading bruise that had started this whole thing in the first place but what was the point? They both knew it was there and she wasn’t going to pretend things were different. They weren’t. They were never going to just be Aubrey and Stacie and the weight of that truth crushed her.

Stacie settled back into bed on her stomach, phone in hand so she could scroll through their messages, reminding herself of how it had been. The telltale click of Aubrey’s Louboutin’s on the marble made her take a final steeling breath before she dropped her phone and rolled over to lounge back against the pillows in bed. She had known Aubrey was coming and knew what she looked like but she had not been prepared for her body’s reaction to actually seeing Aubrey standing there after 4 days away.

Her breath caught in her chest when those piercing eyes trailed up her body with a nearly physical caress. Oh God. She should have known all along that she would lose this bet because Aubrey always played to win. Stacie’s lip caught between her teeth as she watched Aubrey toss her hair casually over a shoulder after peeling her jacket off and tossing it to the ground instead of neatly laying it over the arm of the chair by the wall as usual. It was out of character for the normally meticulous and neat blonde and Stacie’s eyes tracked to the jacket then back to Aubrey’s focused gaze that had never wavered from her face even as nimble fingers worked the buttons of her vest only to drop it with just as much abandon as the jacket. Aubrey in a three piece suit was breathtaking but Aubrey getting out of one? Completely arresting.

She worked the knot of her tie loose and pulled it off as she stalked a step closer to the bed. Her pristine and crisp white shirt fell next and Stacie’s eyes zeroed in on Aubrey’s hands at the waist of her pants. The top of them gaping open with a slow tease of the zipper lowering enough to reveal the soft curve of the head of a strap on. She was stuck there staring as Aubrey moved to the foot of the bed and wrapped warm, strong hands around her thighs and yanked hard enough to drag Stacie to the edge.

 _Jesus Christ_.

The demand in the gesture pulled things tight and low in her belly oh God it had been so  _long_ since anyone had looked at her with that much raw need. Not because they needed sex, Aubrey could get that anywhere from anyone, but because they needed her. Because  _Aubrey_  needed her. Stacie’s legs dropped open at a gentle pressure from caressing hands. Her eyes slipping closed as she basked in the blaze of heat between them. Lips brushed softly along her collarbone and a whimper escaped her.

Tousled blonde hair cascaded in a wave over Aubrey’s shoulders and Stacie gathered it up in her hands, letting the silky strands tangle around her fingers. She loved it when it was down and just a little wild because Aubrey was just a little wild, and that thought always sent a thrill of excitement racing through her. Lips and teeth tickled, kissed, and nibbled over her chest and down her belly to her hip. Stacie could read the appreciation of her lingerie in the soft growl that rumbled from Aubrey’s throat. The blonde pulled up to stand and gaze down at Stacie’s body stretched out on the bed waiting for her. Their gazes met and she lowered herself to her knees, face dropping to nuzzle the brunette’s thigh.

A nervous chuckle spilled out of Stacie and couldn’t fight the way her body twitched a little at the feel of the tip of Aubrey’s nose grazing over the thin lace covering her heat.

“I never thought I’d see Aubrey Posen on her knees for anybody.”

Aubrey’s bright eyes raised but her lips never stopped their exploration until they reached the juncture between hip and thigh, her thumb stroking just under the edge of the matching black panties she wore. Her voice husky and raw with her sheer desire for Stacie. “Not for just ‘anyone’, but for a queen…”

The statement trailed off when Aubrey pushed the thin fabric aside to lower her mouth to Stacie’s heat and all the air rushed out of her lungs. Aubrey took her time working her into a frenzied writhing mass, bringing her closer to the edge of oblivion with purposeful strokes of her tongue and Stacie felt her world go unsteady and hazy as she worked to drag breath into her lungs.

Dimly in the back of her mind she knew that this would break her. That when the night was done and she was alone in bed again, that she’d be utterly and terribly broken because it was more than just Aubrey pulling her apart at the seams. It was the way she read Stacie’s body and reactions, the way she responded to every sigh and gasp. It was the way she consumed and devoured as much as she soothed and caressed. It wasn’t the first time anyone had ever gone down on her but it had never really been to please her in any way. It was always a means to an end but it was never done with any real regard for what she wanted or needed. But Aubrey  _knew_  what she needed and gave it to her so willingly.

And she was so close now, her body betraying her with quivering muscles and whimpering cries. “Au…” Oh fuck. Stacie licked lips gone dry from breathing heavily and tried again. She was so very close she just wanted…needed more, just that much more of Aubrey’s warmth and passion. “Aubrey…I…ca..ohfuck.” Her hips bucked wildly again and this time Aubrey backed away with a few lingering kisses before she lost herself. Stacie could still hear her pulse thundering in her ears as she wrapped her arms around the other woman and drew her as close as she could get them as soon as Aubrey dropped her trousers and slid the length of her body over Stacie’s. Warm hands cupped her jaw, thumbs stroking away the tracks of tears she hadn’t known had fallen.

Her body rolled under Aubrey, the toy between them bumping against her clit and making her tense with a need that warred with something raw and painful. Being held so carefully, so tenderly…it wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fucking fair. How could she ever be without this?

“Whose girl are you?” The words were such a contrast to the tone in which they came out and it startled her out of her downward spiral at least for the moment. They were heavy with meaning though the words were barely a hushed whisper against her lips. Stacie felt her heart stutter to a stop in chest at what she found in Aubrey’s eyes. Emotions flitted across the blonde’s features but she did nothing to hide them. “Stace…whose girl are you?”

She opened her mouth to answer that she was Aubrey’s girl, that she wanted to be Aubrey’s and only Aubrey’s. And she did, more than anything but that wasn’t exactly what Aubrey wanted to hear. And she could tell by the patient gaze calmly waiting for her to come to it. Stacie’s brow furrowed and she looked into the other woman’s eyes searching for something in them to lead her where she needed to go. To tell her what to say or who to be but all she saw was quiet acceptance and a depth of love so profound she almost couldn’t breathe. Aubrey wasn’t Weston and that wasn’t a question of possession. Aubrey had never tried to own her. It was a question more about who she was to Aubrey.

It was about knowing that Aubrey wanted her. Loved her even.  _Loved_ her. Aubrey loved  _her_. Even knowing what she’d done, what she dealt with and why she couldn’t just leave, Aubrey was there. Loving her. Showing her in the only way that Aubrey knew how that she didn’t see a fool, or a whore, or any of the many things Weston had called her over the years.

But then Weston was looking to see her as the perfect slave, and Aubrey…Aubrey was looking for something more.

“I’m not a girl, I’m a queen…”

A deeply satisfied smirk pulled at Aubrey’s lips and between one breath and the next she jerked her hips forward so deeply and quickly that Stacie could only grasp at her smooth back, feeling the taut muscles ripple and twitch under her fingers. Okay. So she could have lived with certain things, it didn’t mean she didn’t miss or want it. And it seemed Aubrey had figured that out long before she had and was intent on giving it to her in spades.

“You’re goddamn right.”


	3. The Art of Negotiation

_It was cold for the season and raining. Aubrey didn’t mind the rain though, it made it harder to notice if you were being followed and that worked to her advantage. The car ahead of them flashed its brakes as it slowed behind a line of traffic. In Los Angeles the traffic was a pain in the ass and definitely road rage inducing, but in the City it was nightmare and she definitely didn’t miss it. The company maybe but not the traffic. But she didn’t miss her current company as much as she missed Stacie._

_They hadn’t parted on the softest of terms and she had been regretting it for the last three days and was already resolved to making it up to the other woman. Sometimes Aubrey got tunnel vision when she had a problem that needed solving and Weston Whitman was definitely a problem for her particular issue resolution skill set. But it had taken her away from home and pushed a wedge between her and Stacie and that made her even angrier at the situation._

_The cars ahead started to drive and she tipped her head to the side to rest against the passenger door window to see where her target was. “He’s getting off the turnpike.”_

_Jesse put on his turn signal on when he merged out of the lane and onto the ramp. She gave him a mild glare and shook her head. Rain didn’t prevent you from getting noticed if you were fucking obvious but he just smiled and shrugged at her. It was still good to see him even if he was an idiot._

_“So you never said why you needed to know about this Whitman guy. What, is he in for deep or something?”_

_No. She was the one in deep. Way too deep for something that started so casually over a night of poker. She knew she loved Stacie because she’d never felt this way about anyone else in her entire life. It wasn’t just the want of her physically, though there was plenty of that, but she loved the way Stacie saw the world. She loved her good heart and practical business mind. She loved the way Stacie laughed when they were alone and wrapped up in each other. She just fucking loved the woman. And she didn’t even bother questioning it._

_Aubrey didn’t answer and he nodded with a scoffed chuckle as if he had expected as much. She rolled her eyes and gave a lazy shrug. “He has something I want.”_

_“Yeah? Like what? You gonna go legit and start running some hedge fund?”_

_She pointed to the right when they came to the light and he turned onto the street while maintaining a good enough distance. They rode in silence for a few moments, each of them watching the road and the area they were headed. “No.” That was it. Nothing more. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell him but she just didn’t want to talk about it right now. After. When Weston was a footnote in their history, then she’d bring Stacie home to meet the Family. But not before when there were too many things to fuck that up still in the way._

_“Jesus. I think we talk more when we’re three thousand miles apart.” Jesse nudged her in the arm playfully and it pulled a smile out of her. “Hey hey look. Un-fucking-believable that jag-off is stopping for a hotdog. What are you thinking?”_

_Aubrey watched as the black sedan pulled over and the front passenger got out to run across the street to a street vendor. It was risky in broad daylight but it was a tough neighborhood and the only people that seemed to be around were bangers and crackheads. “You follow until we get to the Heights. We’ll dump his car there.”_

_He nodded solemnly as she pulled on her black leather gloves. She checked to make sure the one man was still at the hotdog stand as they pulled up in front of the car. Aubrey ran through her usual routine and checked her clip before pulling the slide back on her gun. It was settling and she felt a mantle of cold detachment settle on her shoulders and through her chest. There was nothing but the buzz of white noise in her ears as she exited the SUV and tucked her gun tight along her thigh, hidden against the black of her long pea coat._

_She gave the driver a smile and he smiled back, foolishly lowering the window to see what she wanted. When it was open just enough her free hand darted in to slam his face against the steering wheel twice in rapid succession. It wouldn’t knock him out, the guy had a face like a brick and probably just as hard too but he was disoriented enough that she was able to pull the car door open easily and yank him to the asphalt. She brought her gun up and fired into his chest, then twice more into his head._

_“What the fuck?! Who the fu…”_

_“Shut up.”_

_“Do you know who the fuck I am? I’ll eat your fucking heart out you bitch, who the fuc…”_

_Aubrey pointed her gun at the man in the backseat before getting into the car and peeling away from the curb with a hard jerk. The man in the back flew across the seat in a hard thump against the door leaving him a little dazed. He seemed to understand that if he wasn’t dead yet it was for a reason so he sat quietly until she passed into the Heights where she pulled the car into an alleyway and got out. Jesse pulled up behind her and she opened the door for her passenger._

_“Out.”_

_He looked around cautiously before exiting and turned to face the SUV with Jesse driving. Recognition sunk in and he gave a disgusted mutter. “Christ. Frank sent you didn’t he?”_

_“Get in the truck.”_

_“Look, whatever he’s paying you. I can pay double. You’re not bad looking, with that kind of money you could go anywhere, be anyone.”_

_None of the words coming out of his mouth were helping his case and she was getting tired of hearing his voice. Aubrey jabbed her gun hard into the small of his back and pushed him into the backseat, sliding into the car right behind him. She took a minute to do a quick frisk but she didn’t find anything. He had grown complacent, lazy even, and as her hand smoothed over his ribs looking for a gun she realized, fat as well. It was sloppy and shook her head in disgust at it._

_“He’s clean.”_

_Jesse nodded and drove deeper into the neighborhood, taking several turns and doubling back on blocks just in case they were followed. She kept her gun trained on the man in the seat next to her as they drove and he watched her warily trying to figure her out. She said nothing until they pulled into a derelict garage on a street that had more rats than people and had been her father’s favorite spot to handle business. When the metal door closed behind the truck she got out and gestured with her gun for him to do the same._

_He was still looking at her when she shoved him roughly into an old heavy office chair that had to be at least forty years old. Jesse moved to zip tie his wrists and ankles to the chair and Aubrey slipped her gun into the holster at her back. Very carefully she peeled off her gloves, coat and jacket, laying them neatly over Jesse’s now outstretched arm. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before she turned back to the man._

_He looked back and forth between them wondering what was happening. It shouldn’t be quite so confusing, she’d shot his driver in the head and abducted him. Jesse wasn’t the muscle he was just her wheel man. A fact that was just now dawning on Nicky. Aubrey gave a soft snort and started to roll up her sleeves, first the left cuff exactly three turns, then the right exactly three turns. Aubrey pulled the well-worn slap jack out of her pocket and placed it on the table he was sitting near. His dark eyes went to it then widened as understanding filled them._

_“I know you. You’re Mickey the Fist’s kid. Jesus I thought you were….okay okay okay listen. Triple. I’ll give you triple what Frank is paying you. We don’t have to tell anyone. I could make you a rich woman.”_

_She gave him blank look and picked up the slap jack that had been her father’s before her. Just having the weight of it in her hand reminded her of him and her lips quirked into a dark smile. “I’m already a rich woman.”_

_“Look. Let’s cut a deal. Just tell me what you want.”_

_Aubrey used the slap jack to tip his chin up and waited until his eyes met her cold gaze. “Tell me about the girls Nicky. The ones you send to Whitman.”_

That had been three months and several bodies ago but it was all coming to fruition now. All the literal blood and sweat that had gone into this whole thing was finally coming together. She had moved just enough pieces and encouraged just the right kind of people to do the wrong kind of thing and now it was all playing out the way she wanted it to. Her trip to New York had given her a lot of information on Stacie’s husband and none of it was good.

He had a habit of buying women and beating them for kicks. Some of his tastes running too dark for even the kink rings of New York’s elite. There had been a few too many dead hookers to clean up and he had been shunned from the community. It was why his bosses had sent him to the firm in Los Angeles, figuring any attention he might draw from his habits would be too far away to affect them. Everything else she found out from there had gone from bad to worse but it was enough for her to fix the problem of Weston Whitman.

Aubrey rolled to her side, arm sliding over Stacie’s waist to tug her closer. Warm, soft skin slid against hers in a delicious caress and she sighed. The brunette smiled at her and it took her just a second to catch her breath. There was a good chance whatever she was going to say now would have Stacie running out her door as fast as those long gorgeous legs would take her.

She knew Stacie wanted to be free of him, but this wasn’t just some guy this was Stacie’s husband. And free of him didn’t necessarily mean that Aubrey should kill him. Though she wanted to. Very very badly. Aubrey brought her hand up to cup Stacie’s jaw, bringing their lips together in a soft kiss. Just in case it all went sideways in the next few minutes, she wanted this last kiss.

Stacie pulled back with a frown sensing something different in Aubrey. “What’s wrong?”

It made her smile a little because of course Stacie could read her like a book, she was the only person alive that could. Aubrey took deep breath and met Stacie’s concern filled gaze. How Stacie responded wouldn’t change what was going to happen. Weston needed to go and if getting him out of Stacie’s life cost her all of this…she’d still do it. No matter what it cost her personally, Stacie needed to be free.

“He’s late on his payment.”

They hadn’t spoken of it since the night she’d confessed that he had come to her for a loan. Stacie didn’t need to know how or why just that he needed the cash and fast. Aubrey had laid out some severe terms for the loan knowing he’d never be able to pay it on time or in full. Not with the way he was being extorted anyway. Her fingers trailed down from Stacie’s jaw, along her neck to her shoulder. They traced over the faint scars of several savage bite marks and cold fury rose up in her. Tonight he’d start paying for each and every mark he’d made on Stacie.

“When do you have to leave?” Stacie wasn’t asking her not to do what needed to be done and Aubrey let out a breath of relief she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Now.” It was already later than she’d intended but she’d come home to find Stacie waiting for her in nothing but a pair of stilettos and one of Aubrey’s dress shirts unbuttoned to the waist, a silk tie barely knotted and hanging from her neck. So she was late now but who could blame her?

Stacie didn’t say anything, she just leaned into another kiss, claiming more of Aubrey’s heart with it. Whatever was happening or going to happen they were in it together now. And she hoped to God that they’d still be in it together when the dust settled because it was gonna get ugly fast now. Aubrey pulled away and slid out of the bed with a parting playful slap to Stacie’s ass that earned her a yelp.

“You gonna be here when I come back?”

“I’ll be here as long as you want me to be here.”

Aubrey gave a slight nod and padded into the bathroom to take a quick shower. Stacie knew what she did, who she was, but she’d never really seen her work. Didn’t exactly know how hands on Aubrey was when it came to collecting her tickets. Now it was all coming up in a very personal way and she wondered exactly how much blood was going to spill before it was too much for Stacie like it had been too much for her own mother.

When she had finished and stepped out of the shower she found a suit and tie already hanging from her dressing rack waiting for her. It was black on black save for the tie and underwear. Those were a deep crimson red and she’d never seen them before. Aubrey raised her brow at Stacie questioningly when the tall brunette walked out of the closet with a pair of matching heels.

“I thought you’d look good in a new suit.”

Aubrey smiled at that and hurried to finish getting ready and dress. The suit fit perfectly but she wasn’t at all surprised by that. Stacie had had her hands all over Aubrey enough times to know what would fit and what wouldn’t. When the last button on her vest had been buttoned she turned and reached for the silk tie to put it on but Stacie moved in close pressing her long naked body along Aubrey’s back. She draped the tie around her neck and wrapped her arms around Aubrey as she neatly and easily wound the tie around itself and knotted it in a perfect full Windsor knot just the way she liked it.

Stacie rested her chin on Aubrey’s shoulder and looked at them in the full length mirror. Aubrey turned in her arms and smirked teasingly. “So I look good?”

Stacie’s eyes darkened as they trailed down her body, one finger tracing the line of her tie to tuck it neatly into the vest. There was no doubt in Aubrey’s mind that Stacie thought she looked good. There was just one accessory missing and Stacie reached for the leather paddle holster and gun. Aubrey stayed still as Stacie clipped it in place at the small of her back then threaded her black leather belt through the loops to fasten around her waist before slipping the heavy 9mm into place.

“You definitely look good and the black won’t show blood.”

It was the first real acknowledgement of what she was about to do that Stacie had given. It was practical and just detached enough for Aubrey to realize that she’d thought this through while picking the suit out. That Stacie had already anticipated how the game would play out with Weston and was subtly showing her support of Aubrey’s life, of Aubrey herself.

Aubrey’s arms tightened around Stacie and she pushed them both against the wall, her frame tight against Stacie’s as she kissed her hungrily and with so much fucking  _need_. She needed Stacie in her life, she needed someone that wasn’t just there to protect and fuck. She needed the strength of someone that understood her and had her back even on the dark days. And she needed the softness of comfort and the sweetest of laughs to remind her she was still a human deep inside. She needed everything Stacie was. She needed a queen at her side.

Stacie’s leg came up around her waist and Aubrey dropped her hand between them to stroke and tease the brunette. Stacie whimpered and rested her hand on Aubrey’s wrist even as her hips rolled for more friction. She brought Aubrey’s hand to her lips and kissed each fingertip before sighed in resignation.

“You’re late for work and I’ll be here waiting for you.”

Aubrey huffed at that but pulled back and slipped her jacket on. Stacie took the time to straighten her tie and collar for her before turning Aubrey toward the bedroom door with a little pat to her ass as encouragement. It made her smile and she stopped in the doorway to watch the other woman crawl back into bed with a book. She was silently watching for a moment, thinking about how that was a sight she could stand to see every night for the rest of her life. Aubrey leaned against the doorjamb her voice soft as she said something she’d never said to anyone in a romantic way before.

“Hey. I love you.”

She didn’t wait for Stacie to respond, she just picked up the heels and headed to the stairs. Aubrey took them at a fast clip, stopping at the bottom only long enough to slip on her shoes and tuck her cellphone into her inner jacket pocket. The car was already waiting for her and she slid behind the driver’s seat in the back. Happy, her driver smiled sunnily like she always did, not at all perturbed that she’d been left alone in the car for two hours with a man kicking in shouting in the trunk.

“Going to the office, Boss?”

Aubrey nodded and Happy pulled out of the driveway. The thumps in the back got quieter as they drove, Happy taking turns sharply when he got too loud. She said nothing the entire drive to The Dirty Bird. When they pulled up Lilly was waiting for them with the back door propped open. “Take him to the basement.”

She preceded them down the stairs, letting Lilly and Happy drag Weston down between them. He was wild eyed and sweating but wore his arrogance like armor, trying to puff himself up when he was shoved down into a chair and held steady by strong hands. Aubrey pulled a cigarette from the pack resting on the desk and lit it with the silver lighter she tossed on the table top. He watched her with wary eyes as she stalked over to him, one hand in her pocket the other bringing the cigarette to her lips for another slow drag.

“Mr. Whitman. How good of you to join us.”

“Did I have a fucking choice?” He tried to shrug off Happy and Lilly to show his dominance but they held him tighter. Aubrey smirked and gestured for them to back up and give him some room. “Look I’ll have your money okay? I just need another two days.”

Two days. Aubrey shook her head slowly at that.

“You’re already two days behind, add another two and that’s almost a week. The terms of our agreement were that each week you would provide me with a sum of money until your debt was paid off. Now you’re talking about missing a whole week. You know what this does to your interest rate Mr. Whitman?”

He nodded then and smiled, sure in the knowledge that he could broker a deal with her. That was his whole life, negotiating deals and playing with money. Robbing Peter to pay Paul as her father used to say. Aubrey stubbed out the cigarette in a tray and released the smoke in a slow exhale.

“Sure, our terms were that my interest doubles exponentially each day I’m late. But I can get it. I can get it all.” There was that smile again. The flash of his teeth brought up the image of the scars on Stacie’s shoulder. The sound of white noise drowned out everything else, even his voice as made a pretty show of a lot of reassuring words that didn’t mean shit at the end of the day. Aubrey didn’t need to hear them because she was only giving him enough rope to hang himself with.

“You smile a lot Mr. Whitman. I bet it goes a long way in getting people to believe you hm?” He wavered unsure where she was going with that but she ignored the question in his eyes. “Alright. I’ll grant you this one time extension but I want a little collateral as a show of good faith hm? How about I take that sweet ride of yours?”

Her voice had dropped to a deadly low tone making her words heavy with meaning. He knew there was danger in the question but didn’t understand where it was coming from.

“That’s a four hundred thousand dollar car, you can’t ju…”

His words trailed off when she turned to look at him. Immediately he nodded his agreement and smiled again and the corner of her eye twitched. That fucking smile.

“Sure sure of course. You can have my car, I’ll bring it by…or or…uh you can pick it up whatever you like. It’s yours.”

Aubrey jerked her chin at Happy and the blonde smiled and moved into place to hold his head steady. Whitman struggled against her but the curly haired blonde was strong and used her standing advantage to hold him still. Lilly held out a pair of pliers and Aubrey gave them a test click before she moved to loom over Weston.

“I’m going on a lot of faith, so I want to ensure you and I have an understanding about the terms and conditions of this deal.” He sensed what was about to happen and closed his mouth as though he could prevent her from pulling his teeth out. Lilly leaned over him, licking the bridge of his nose before she pinched the nostrils shut. It forced him to open his mouth to gasp in a breath and Aubrey grabbed his jaw in an iron grip. She wouldn’t take them all, just a few and mostly from the back.  _Mostly_. “Let’s see how far you get making those deals now….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't seen it yet, check out the mood board linked and posted in chapter one!


	4. The Fool

**Stacie**

She held up one dress in front of her body and sighed before flinging it to the side and holding up another. They were both beautiful long gowns that were light weight enough for the season but long and form fitted enough for the type of event. Stacie flung the second dress, a pale green, to the side and stood in front of Cynthia Rose in exasperation.

“I have a closet full of evening dresses and gowns and I can’t figure out what to wear to my own event tonight. I should have planned this weeks ago.”

Of course weeks ago she’d still been planning on attending by herself. It wasn’t always that way, usually Weston pretended to humor her work and attended events with her. But for the last couple of years she’d gone to each event with excuses instead of a husband. And when Aubrey had found out she asked to be her date, which was amazing, except now she had nothing to wear at the last minute. Her best friend looked up from the deck of cards she was idly shuffling and smirked then shook her head slowly. “What difference does it make? You ain’t gonna be in it but a minute.”

Stacie huffed and walked back into her closet to look for something else to wear. White was out, gold was out, green was definitely out. This used to be so easy before, any dress would do and Weston would wear the same tuxedo he always wore. It was nice of course, with classic lines, and he wore it well enough she supposed. But no one wore a suit like Aubrey and she had a feeling that Aubrey in a tux was going to make her weak. So she wanted to up her style game. Going stag was not the same thing as arriving with an escort.

“That isn’t the point. Like at all.” There was a knock at the door to the bedroom and she poked her head out of the closet to watch Cynthia Rose take something from the housekeeper. It was a large rectangular box with a bow on it. “What’s all this?”

“Georgia said it was just delivered by a strange mute woman. So I’m guessing Lil.” She placed the box on the edge of the bed and rested her hands on her hips. “You gonna open it?”

Stacie bounded over and leapt on to the bed already imaging what kind of dress might be in it. “What do you think it is? A pony?”

“I really hope you’re playing, girl.”

They had been best friends since college and the banter had always been the same. She’d be the dumb one and CR would be the cynical wise cracking one. It was a façade they both played to even though they knew each other much better than that. She pulled the ribbon off and opened the lid then let out a breath of surprised air. She shouldn’t have been surprised, Aubrey had impeccable taste, but for some reason she was blown away. Stacie reached into the box and pulled out the long deep red silk satin spaghetti strap gown.

“Guess that solves your dress problem. Damn. You gonna look hot.”

Stacie bit her lip and reached for the card in the bottom of the box and flipped it open. Cynthia Rose tried to look over her shoulder and she closed the card quickly. There were a lot of things that Aubrey would probably not care about if she told Cynthia Rose but something this personal, this romantic, that was out of the question to share.

“Nosy.”

“And which one of us is always digging through my phone to read my texts?”

“That’s different. Your sexts with that Ashley chick are awesome. Seriously. You could sell it as lesbian erotica. I know a guy.” Cynthia Rose gave her a look like she was out of her mind but it melted into something more considering after a moment. Stacie smirked and slid off the bed so she could read the card to herself. “Think about it.”

She leaned against the wall next to the window and smiled softly at the handwriting. Of course Aubrey wrote in beautiful heavy cursive script.  _‘I promise to take it off you later – A’_ It sent a thrill down her spine and she inhaled deeply at the thought of what Aubrey might have planned for her. Stacie gave the dress another look, holding it in front of her body while facing the full length mirror. It was gorgeous and she  _would_  look hot in it.

“You better hurry up. It’s almost time.”

Stacie nodded glad that she had already done her hair and makeup as padded into the closet to dress. Unsurprisingly the dress fit her perfectly, the slit riding almost to her hip was sure to flash a peek of her garter if her step was too long. She had wanted to tuck a gift from Aubrey into it but despite how small the lightweight the .22 caliber pistol was it was still a little too bulky for a simple black band. At the time Aubrey had given it to her the concealer thigh holster had seemed silly but as she adjusted it on her other thigh and tucked the gun into it she realized it was the perfect accessory. It held firmly and securely without ruining the line and fall of the dress. She grabbed her shoes and stepped into them, buckling the thin straps around her ankles.

When she stepped out of the closet Cynthia Rose gave her a whistle. “Aubrey’s going to love it. You look awesome, girl.” Her brow furrowed when her gaze trailed down Stacie’s body and ended at awkward way she was standing, trying to get used to the weight and feel of the gun strapped to her thigh. It would take her a few minutes to get adjust and get used to it but it was the first time she was wearing it for practical use. The other woman raised her brows in question as she guessed the problem immediately. “Oh so you ride or die now?”

It wasn’t an idle question and she could feel the current of something underneath the words. Maybe a threat, or a warning, she wasn’t sure but she gave a slow nod after thinking it through. She knew what being with Aubrey would mean if things got bad at work. She knew exactly the type of business Aubrey had, it was how they got to the situation they found themselves in now. Stacie turned to the mirror and started to touch up her makeup and hair.

“If you’re asking if I’m totally cool with how violent Aubrey can be for work then the answer is yes. I knew who she was before we started this, remember?”

Not that she herself could ever really forget the blonde’s work. This relationship with Aubrey had been so easy and almost too normal. It became harder and harder to remember that she was married to Weston and not Aubrey with all the time they spent in each other’s company. Stacie couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gone to Weston’s office to take him to lunch, then again he was rarely even there anymore. He spent more time traveling for work than he did at home which was quite frankly a relief.

But with Aubrey it was different. She found herself planning out her days so that she’d be around The Bird near lunch or dinner. And she’d dropped in a time or two at an inopportune moment. The most recent time giving her a very vivid reminder that this life was not a game.

_She had hoped that it was a slow business day when she walked in to the manager’s office in the back. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that she would be walking directly into a business meeting of sorts. But she had and she’d stood frozen in the doorway as she took in the balding man tied to the chair and Aubrey with her sleeves rolled up to almost the elbow with slap jack in hand raised and ready to break a kneecap. The other woman hid it quickly but there was a flash of panic on her face that made Stacie’s heart squeeze painfully. For a second. Just a second, Aubrey had been afraid and it showed. She didn’t know how to ease that flash of fear without undermining the blonde so she cleared her throat and glanced down at the man, quietly closing the door behind her and locking it with a click._

_“What’d you do?”_

_He tipped his head back to stare at her as if she were insane. She couldn’t blame him, this was obviously not the time for idle chit chat. When he didn’t answer soon enough Aubrey reached up and twisted two of his fingers roughly in a direction they were never meant to bend. They snapped and her voice came out with a low growl that did things to Stacie, making her body tighten with sudden desire._

_“Answer the lady.”_

_Heat rose to her face and she cleared her throat when the man cried out. That…should not have been hot. He was a human being and he was in pain and Aubrey was the one causing it. It should have turned her stomach. But. It didn’t. She trusted that it was for a reason, because Aubrey never did anything without a damn good reason. The man lifted his head, beads of sweat dripping from his brow._

_“I skimmed off my pick-ups.”_

_Oh. Stacie gave him a sympathetic look and patted the top of his head. “It’s going to hurt for a while, but the good news is you won’t make that mistake again.” Because she was pretty sure he was going to wind up dead. This was something she should have found horrifying but she felt strangely calm about because she knew there would be a perfectly valid reason. You didn’t steal from Aubrey Posen, and if you had the balls to try then you were risking your life and that was really on you._

_She turned back to Aubrey, dismissing the man and any deeper thoughts about what went on in the back office. She knew how she felt with Aubrey, she felt safe despite the potential for so much violence. She felt safer here with Aubrey than she did in her own home. And all that dark, raw, energy so perfectly and tightly controlled took her breath away. Stacie took a few steps to Aubrey’s desk and leaned back against the edge, placing herself between Aubrey’s knees as the other woman was reclined in her office chair, watching her with open curiosity._

_“So, dinner tonight, wanna eat out?” Stacie smirked at the flicker of surprise in Aubrey’s eyes at her obvious intent and stood to give the blonde a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “See you in a bit.”_

Cynthia Rose gave a slow nod at Stacie’s comment, weighing it for truth. “If she hurts you…”

“She won’t. Aubrey doesn’t hurt people because she likes it C, its business. She doesn’t pretend to be the good guy but she isn’t the bad guy unless someone makes her be. I can live with that.” Stacie swallowed thickly, pausing as she was about to apply her fresh lipstick. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, dimly aware of Cynthia Rose standing behind her. “I love her.”

Her friend gave a solid nod and shrugged into an indigo blue tuxedo jacket with black lapel. “She damn well better love you back.”

“She does.” Stacie smiled and finished her lipstick before turning to help Cynthia Rose fix her bowtie. That was something she believed without hesitation and not just because Aubrey had said so for the first time the night before, she just  _knew_  that the other woman did, she felt it in her bones. “Hey, thanks for letting me host this thing at The Diamond Club. It’s kind of the perfect venue for a Monte Carlo themed event. It’s going to earn a lot of money for the shelter and that will help a lot of women in need. So, thank you.”

“I got’chu Stace. It’s a good cause and it makes me look like an upstanding member of the community.” Stacie smoothed out Cynthia Rose’s lapel and linked their arms so they could look at themselves in the mirror. “Damn. We look like we’re going to prom.”

It made her laugh and she nudged her best friend with a shoulder bump. “Yeah, a big gay prom.”

“Hnghh. I look fly as hell too. Hm. I might find me a wife tonight.”

Stacie rolled her eyes playfully and tugged her friend’s arm to lead them out the door. “Okay well look fly from the car, I don’t want to keep Aubrey waiting.”

**Aubrey**

Aubrey walked through the tables set out for the various games and nodded approvingly. “Get this table a bit more to the back and put the high roller Baccarat and Poker upstairs in VIP.” Cynthia Rose had given her carte blanche to organize exactly how the gaming went since she was the one supplying the set up and games. Happy nudged her elbow gently and jerked her curly head toward the entrance of the club.

The light from outside was blocked out partially as the figure strode toward them with an unmistakable cocky strut. Aubrey smirked and turned to face the woman as she finally made her way to them. “Detective Mitchell, here to gamble away your check for a good cause?”

The smaller woman looked around at the club and gave a slight nod as if she was seriously considering it. But they both knew she wouldn’t be there for more than a drink or two before crawling back into whatever hole she’d crawled out of to be there. “Maybe, lots of bored rich wives come to these things right?”

Aubrey snorted softly and gestured for Happy to take over ensuring everything went the way it was supposed to until Stacie got there. Her eyes landed on the briefcase in the Detective’s hand and she gestured toward the stairs that led to Cynthia Rose’s office. “I see you visited our friend.”

Beca followed her up and into the office, shutting the door behind them. “That guy is a fucking creep.” She put the briefcase on the desk and opened it before turning it to face Aubrey. “Also, he’s missing some teeth. You know anything about that?”

She didn’t say anything as she reached for the stacks of money to make sure it was all there. It hadn’t taken much to get Detective Mitchell to agree to blackmail Weston, she had a particular prejudice against the wealthy that Aubrey used to her benefit. Besides, she was a dirty cop that would do anything if the price was right. Aubrey counted out twenty five thousand dollars and tossed the stack lightly across the desktop. “That’s unfortunate news for him, I hope he doesn’t smile for photos.”

Beca dropped into the chair across from Aubrey and picked up the cash without bothering to count it. She trusted Aubrey not to cheat her and in turn Aubrey trusted Beca not to rat on their dealings. The cop tucked the stack of bills into the inner pocket of her leather jacket and crossed her arms over her chest, watching Aubrey with a calculating gaze.

“Hm. If I didn’t know better I would say someone knocked or pulled them out. Sounds like something someone might do to teach a guy a lesson. Especially if that guy owed that someone a lot of money.” It was getting too close to the truth for her to lie outright against. So Aubrey leaned back casually, adjusting the matching tie and vest set she wore. It wasn’t an admission but it wasn’t a denial either and Beca took it as a sign to continue. “Did you have me blackmail this guy just so you could loan him back his own money?”

The corner of her mouth quirked in a predatory smile but it faded quickly and she leaned forward, hands clasped in front of her on the desk. “If someone were doing that to our associate Mr. Whitman I suspect they would be doing it for a good reason. Don’t you?”

The brunette sat there a moment turning it over in her head. “I’ll tell you what I know. Weston Whitman is grade A piece of crap. I did my own research and he’s clean as a whistle on the surface, but there’s something wrong about him. Hookers go missing or turn up dead everywhere he goes, investors get squeamish whenever his name is mentioned, corporate higher ups start hiding behind walls of attorney’s whenever anyone asks about him.”

They were toeing a line just discussing it but Aubrey hadn’t yet said anything incriminating to substantiate what the Detective was saying. “I think that sounds about right for Mr. Whitman.”

“Jesus Christ Aubrey. This guy is a legitimate bad guy, I could have investigated this shit for real. What are we doing dicking around with shadow games like this? And please for the love of God, give me a better fucking excuse than you wanting to bang his wife like a Salvation Army drum.”

She could understand Detective Mitchell’s irritation, even if she was on the take, she was a good damn investigator and letting a bad guy get away from the law when there was a good case against him bothered her. Aubrey chose her words very carefully when she spoke.

“Let’s say you make this a case Detective. And just for the sake of argument he didn’t have enough money and lawyers to bury this whole thing before word gets out. Let’s say you manage to drag this figlio di puttana through the mud and shit where he belongs.” Aubrey stood and slid her hands into the pockets of her tuxedo trousers to keep from wanting to reach for a weapon in her anger at the very thought of Weston. “Who exactly do you think suffers the most for it? Him? You think his money can’t buy him some luxuries in prison? Who do you think the press is going to hunt and hound? Him all safe in his cell or…” Stacie.

She didn’t say it. She didn’t have to. Beca deflated a little and shook her head still upset even if she were resigned to accepting it. They both knew Stacie didn’t deserve the fallout of what would happen and there was a good chance that Weston would use his leverage over Stacie to save his own ass. And that was something she couldn’t allow to happen. So she did it her way, moving people like chess pieces until she could trap him in a corner with no one to turn to for help, no money to buy his way free, and no will left to try and fight.

“You have a fucked up sense of chivalry, you know that Posen?”

Aubrey moved to the cabinet that held Cynthia Rose’s well equipped bar and pulled out two small tumblers and a bottle of grappa so strong it would put hair on a man’s chest. She poured them each and drink and handed the Detective a glass. Beca took it and raised it with her.

“Salute.”

They clinked their glasses together and tipped them back. The harsh burn of the alcohol slid down her throat and she gave an involuntary shiver that would have had Detective Mitchell laughing at her if she hadn’t been choking on a cough herself. “Oh my God, poison. Holy shit is that turpentine?”

Aubrey started to answer but her phone vibrated against her ribs. She set the glass down and reached into her jacket pocket. Her lips pulled into a smile at the text from Stacie. A sudden rush of nerves made her pull at her cuffs and straighten her tie once more and she caught Beca watching her at it. “How do I look?”

“Like a woman in love.” Beca stood and lifted Aubrey’s hand to fix the cuff she had twisted around her wrist. They weren’t on the same side of the fence, not by a long shot. They were still cop and criminal, employer and employee even. But if Aubrey were being honest she counted on Beca in her life and thought of them as friends. It was a dangerous way to think given the business she was in but there was a certain amount of mutual trust built up over years of sometimes violent encounters. “Which is super gross by the way.”

Aubrey gave the shorter woman a mild glance but she could tell Beca didn’t really mean it by the almost wistful sigh she gave when she was done fixing the cuff. “Didn’t know you were such a romantic, Detective.”

Beca made a face and shrugged. “Honestly I’m not but…” She shrugged and Aubrey waited patiently for her to continue. “Seeing you happy like this, despite the shit we muck through every day, makes a girl wonder if maybe it could be worth it. You’re in love and as much as that weirds me out, I can’t help but think that might not be the worst thing in the world. One day.”

Aubrey chuckled softly and gestured to the office door. So Detective Mitchell low key wanted to find herself a heart to call home. If she hadn’t ever met Stacie she might have mocked that sentiment. Made a joke about Beca going soft for wanting to be loved and love in return. But it was different now,  _she_  was different now and it was apparently obvious to see. She locked the office behind her and tucked the key into her vest pocket, eyes already scanning for Stacie. When she finally found her, Aubrey almost missed a step and had to catch herself before she crashed into Beca. The other woman looked over her shoulder at Aubrey and snickered. “Smooth, Posen, real smooth.”

“You shut up.” Her eyes slid back to Stacie and she watched the easy sweet smile as she greeted a few patrons. It took Aubrey’s breath away and she chose to watch from the bottom of the stairs as Stacie maneuvered through the swiftly filling room. Her eyes trailed down Stacie’s long body, appreciating the way that dress looked on her. Almost as if she felt the weight of Aubrey’s gaze Stacie raised her head and turned unerringly toward her, flashing a perfect smile.

They were caught for a moment just staring at each other across the room. It was hard not to walk over and kiss Stacie in greeting but she managed to restrain herself. It was only obvious to the few people that knew them like Detective Mitchell and Cynthia Rose or Lilly and Happy, that they were there as a couple, for everyone else Aubrey was just another benefactor and contributor. No one really to take note of and certainly not more than a passing acquaintance to Stacie. But she knew and she had dressed the part, her vest, tie and pocket square matching Stacie’s dress perfectly. Aubrey smiled when Stacie realized that they complimented each other perfectly. Maybe she was going soft for the girl, a thing she swore she’d never do, but seeing that spark of happiness in Stacie’s eyes made it all worth it.

**Stacie**

“Thank you for coming, it was wonderful to see you again.” She smiled and shook hands with another guest, kissing his wife on each cheek as they parted. It felt like hours had passed and she’d barely gotten to see Aubrey. It had been a long nonstop stream of people all wanting to make small talk geared toward finding out her secrets and point out her flaws with polite smiles and condescending little laughs. She hated this part of it, the part where she had to interact with people that didn’t give a damn about anything real but always threw money at the first cause to cross their paths. People like her parents.

Not that her parents were terrible people, they weren’t, they were just too concerned about appearances to really make a change in anyone’s life. Their desire to help people was only as extensive as the amount of time it took to write a check. It was why she spent so much of her time and family inheritance trying to be better than that. Because the truth was they couldn’t even be bothered to help their own daughter out of a horrible situation and she never wanted another woman to know what it felt like to be trapped and alone in an unsafe relationship. Stacie took a deep breath before yet another person got between her and the bar where she’d last seen Aubrey. A warm hand landed lightly on the small of her back and she could feel the heat of it through the dress sinking into her skin.

“I was wondering where you’d gone.” Stacie leaned back slightly so that her body bumped against Aubrey’s and the tension melted away. She turned and smiled at the blonde, taking the time to appreciate the full effect of Aubrey’s tux and perfect smoky eye. It was sexy as hell and she had to resist the urge to run her hands down the other woman’s chest and over her ribs.

“I’ve been here with you the whole time.” Stacie reached out for Aubrey’s hand, wanting to do more than give it a squeeze. She wanted to do  _so_  much more but that would have to wait until later when they were at home together. “You want a drink?”

“Yes, please.” Aubrey smiled at her and Stacie’s heart skipped a beat. She was still lost in the memory of Aubrey’s smile moments later when another much heavier hand landed on her arm. The smile she wore faded instantly because she knew the too familiar touch as one of Weston’s friend’s from work. He was always pushy and always far too drunk and so far tonight had hit on her at least five times. The last time going so far as to squeeze her ass when no one was looking. She knew why he was so aggressive, was sure that he had seen certain movies of her, a thought that sickened her almost as much as the smell of his booze tainted breath.

“You’ve been giving me the dodge Stacie, c’mon, let me buy you a drink and take care of you since Wes isn’t around.”

She tried to carefully extricate herself from his grip but he held tighter, pulling her a little closer to his body. The smell of whiskey on his breath so strong she had to turn her head to get away from it. “You’re drunk Phillip, please let me go.” Her mother’s voice rose up in a frantic roar in her head.  _Don’t make a scene Anastacia, it is better to suffer in silence than endure a scandal!_ It was so hardwired into her brain that she caught herself trying to hide his rough grip on her so no one would know.

“I thought you liked it like this.” She had suspected of course, but having that confirmation made her stomach wind in knots. If one person knew then others could and would eventually find out. People would know about her, about what Weston did to her. Bile rose up in her throat and she elbowed him hard enough in the gut to get him to let go so she could get as far away as she could.

Stacie scanned for Aubrey and headed in her direction but a hard yank to her wrist pulled her to a short stop just feet from the bar. Aubrey turned just then, sensing more than seeing movement over her shoulder and green eyes narrowed in malice as she took in Stacie’s situation. Phillip pulled her over to a smaller table that had been pushed to the side to make room for the servers coming in and out with trays champagne and hors d’oeuvres. She didn’t recognize the two men sitting at the table but she didn’t have to know them personally to know what kind of person they were.

It was obvious from the sly smiles and complete and utter lack of concern for her wellbeing. They were like Phillip, and like Weston. The type of men that preyed on women because they were rich and powerful and had been born with a sense of entitlement bigger than their trust funds.

“I don’t think the lady wants your company.” Aubrey’s soft voice came out with the echo of a threat and Stacie shivered at the sound of it. Phillip let her go and she stepped out of his reach before he could think about grabbing her again. Aubrey gestured with a small wave at a server and gave the girl a fifty dollar bill as a tip. “Bring these gentlemen a round from the top shelf.” The girl nodded and hurried off away from the darkened corner to the full light of the bar and well away from the dangerous vibe in the air.

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude but who the hell do you think you are?”

Aubrey raised a brow and turned her head to take Phillip in, judging him for threat level. When she didn’t find one worth worrying about she pushed forward and rested her hands on the table top. The nearest man, reached out to grab her but Aubrey was faster that he was and far more vicious. Her hand came up to the back of his head, slamming it into the table hard. The second man started to stand but Aubrey lashed out with a quick jab to his throat that buckled his knees and had him silently gasping for breath. In one smooth motion she pulled her gun from the small of her back and placed it on the table directly in front of Phillip with a heavy thunk. She thumbed back the hammer and leaned in so her eyes were level with his and Stacie was sure he had just peed on himself.

“No. Means. No. Are we clear?”

Stacie bit her lip when Phillip nodded a little too quickly in agreement. She held his gaze a moment more before she stood up and tucked the gun away as smoothly as she’d taken it out, the server none the wiser for the for the display. Aubrey turned to Stacie and gently stroked her fingers over the already fading red mark from Phillip. Her voice was low but so much softer than when she’d spoken to the man at the table.

“Hey, you okay?”

She could only nod, afraid of what might come out of her mouth right then. Aubrey gave her a slow nod then turned back to the table to pin them each with a hard look. “Enjoy your drinks gentlemen and get the fuck out of my house.”

All three of them got up without so much as glancing at the drinks, two of them helping the third to the closest exit. Like magic Lilly appeared at Aubrey’s side and the blonde gave her a short nod, watching as her right hand man disappeared back into the shadows to follow Phillip and his friends. She turned back to Stacie, eyes soft with apology but none of that was necessary for Stacie.

There were no words to express how she felt right then. Stacie stood there staring at Aubrey wanting and needing to be anywhere but there in front of so many people. Aubrey opened her mouth to apologize and Stacie pulled her in by her lapels for a quick and hungry kiss. She honestly didn’t care if anyone was watching or had noticed anything out of the ordinary at all. She couldn’t care less if every single one of them saw. Aubrey pulled back from the kiss in confusion her breath coming out in a fast pant.

“Wha…”

“We have to go right now.”

“Wher…”

Stacie took Aubrey’s hand and pulled her along the wall to the edge of the bar. She had to wait as several servers spilled out of the door to the back area before tugging Aubrey behind her to the delivery door at the back. It was too busy with the hustle of bodies and she pushed out into the cool evening with an exasperated sigh. She spotted the other woman’s black Escalade parked next to Cynthia Rose’s Mustang. She turned and slipped a hand into Aubrey’s pants, her fingers tracing the seam of the pocket as she dug for the key. The blonde’s hips jerked once before she found what she was looking for and clicked the lock open.

She couldn’t even feel herself take the steps to the car, only the feel of the cold metal and glass against her overheated back as Aubrey pushed her up against the side and kissed her as if she could devour her right there. Stacie struggled to open the door behind her, breaking away only long enough to lift her dress and scoot into the backseat. The other woman climbed in after her and Stacie reached for her tie, tugging her closer for another kiss. Her hands scrabbled to peel the jacket from Aubrey’s shoulders, needing to get closer than the layers of clothes between them would allow.

Aubrey’s short nails grazed over her hips as they tugged her panties down the progress stopped when the blonde encountered the thigh holster. She looked down at it then at Stacie with a raised brow. “That’s so hot….”

Their lips crashed together again and Stacie swore there wasn’t enough air in the car, maybe the universe even. Aubrey tossed her underwear over her shoulder and pulled Stacie onto her lap in a straddle. Fingers grazed along her heat and she bucked wildly needing more than the tease of foreplay. Oh God she had never needed anyone as badly as she needed Aubrey right in that moment. Her fingers worked with frenzied intensity as she pulled the tie loose from its knot and worked the buttons open on Aubrey’s shirt and vest enough to reach the lace of her bra and the soft creamy skin of her chest.

One hand reached out to brace against the window when Aubrey filled her and Stacie could only think that she’d never felt this much anything in all her years of living. This much desire, need or love. She had never felt this safe in such an out of control life. This was everything for her and Aubrey was everything to her. Stacie brought their lips together in another desperate kiss, her words barely a whisper against Aubrey’s soft lips.

“I’m so yours.”


	5. The Knave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for Domestic Abuse in this chapter.

**Stacie**

“Give me twenty minutes? I want to get out of this dress while I’m packing a bag.”

Cynthia Rose gave a nod as she pulled past the gate. It was pretty late but she hadn’t wanted to stay at home for the night. Not after the incident with Phillip, she just couldn’t stomach the idea of being anywhere that reminded her of Weston or his friends. And as much as she hated the truth of it, her home was the last place that she would call safe. She just needed to grab a few things and some clothes and CR had kindly offered a ride home and then to Aubrey’s.

“It’s cool, Ashley will wait.”

Stacie shook her head at that with a soft chuckle. She was starting to suspect that Cynthia Rose’s side girl was a little more involved than just something casual. “Twice in one week, that sounds serious.”

“Pots and kettles, Stace. Pots and kettles.”

It was fair and she gave a laugh before sliding out of the car with keys and shoes in one hand, her purse in the other. It was dark inside but she knew the layout like the back of her hand, Stacie picked her way through the dark house intending to stop in her office to grab her planner before heading upstairs to change and pack. A pale glow from the under cabinet lights in the kitchen across the way bathed the hallway floor just outside her office but the room itself was pitch black. The dark didn’t normally scare her, not really, but her office felt like it was breathing malice and it made a shiver chase down her spine.

She should have let Aubrey drive her, really she should have, but the blonde had gotten a call she had to take and Stacie thought it would be just a quick trip to get her things. It shouldn’t have needed an armed escort for something so simple. But here she was, suddenly afraid to move. The tall brunette hesitated by her desk, reaching out for the warm leather of her planner when a voice came out of the deep shadows and it was the last voice she wanted to hear.

“I waited for you.”

Fear made her heart stop then beat triple time and she considered just running out of the room. But he would catch her, he  _always_ caught her. No matter how many times she’d tried to run away from him in the moment, he always managed to get to her just in time. Sometimes purposely letting her think she could get away before smashing her hopes with heavy hands. Stacie swallowed thickly and slowly stood to her full height as he clicked on the floor lamp next to the arm chair he sat in.

“Wes. Jesus Christ, you scared me.”

“I said. I. Waited. For. You.” His words were cold and the threat in them was clearly heard despite his low volume. It wasn’t at all the same reaction she got from hearing the menace in Aubrey’s voice, no this sparked a different type of response all together. “Where were you Stacie?”

Just for a moment rebellion flared up in her and she wanted to throw it in his face exactly where she had been and exactly with whom. She wanted him to know that Aubrey had treated her like royalty and then fucked her into oblivion in the back seat of her car because they just couldn’t keep their hands off each other. She wanted to get in every stinging jab that she could but she didn’t dare provoke him. Not when he was in an already perilous mood.

“I was at my fundraiser. I thought you were busy with work?” She knew he hadn’t left town, but Stacie thought it was better to let him think she was clueless as possible. He didn’t say anything and she reached for her planner again. It was wishful thinking that she could just grab it and walk away, and she knew it, but it was still disappointing when he stood and unfolded his long body from the shadows as he made his way toward her. It was hard to remember a time when she loved him, when she had thought that he loved her. Especially right now where every word and gesture was laced with danger and hate.

Of course now she knew he had never loved her, only her money, and the amount of punishment she could take. Stacie’s stomach turned and she wanted to run away screaming for help but she was frozen to the spot just watching him draw closer like every insidious nightmare she’d ever had. He grabbed her upper arm tightly and pulled her close to his chest. Up close like this even in the dark she could see that there was something wrong with his face. His mouth seemed…odd and when he spoke she realized why.

“Oh I was taking care of business alright.” His grip was bruising and he dragged her across the floor of the office toward the credenza. “Open the safe.” When she resisted being pulled along he brought his hand up and backhanded her so hard it left her ears ringing. “You know why you fight me don’t you?” He yanked her back into him before shoving her hard against the edge of the credenza, her hip connecting with it painfully. “You like the abuse Stacie.”

She didn’t. Not at all. Yes she could admit that she liked it rough and wild, and she definitely could admit that when she and Weston started seeing each other the sex had a lot to do with her attraction to him. But over the years the lines had blurred until there was no line left to cross. Now every touch was just wrong to her and she couldn’t help but recoil when his hands tangled in her hair to yank her head roughly around to face him. He smiled at the fear on her face but the smile faded to be replaced with rage as her revulsion replaced the fear in her eyes.

Aubrey hadn’t been playing games with Weston and even with dental implants or partial dentures his smile would never be the same. It gave her a deep sense of satisfaction and she was too slow to stop her lips from curling in a sneer. He slapped her again but his hand lingered and she knew he was enjoying it a little too much. Her guts lurched at the thought of him ever touching her like that again.  “Open the fucking safe Stacie.”

She tried to twist away but he gave a savage yank, bringing her head against the wall hard enough to split the skin right at her hairline. A hot line of blood slowly trickled its way down her forehead and along the bridge of her nose as she raised a shaky hand to work the combination lock on the safe. When it was open he shoved her away from him roughly, swinging it open wide to look at the contents. It wasn’t anywhere near what she normally had tucked away but it was still 150 thousand in neat little stacks all nicely banded and counted already. Stacie swiped at her forehead and stepped back as he pulled the money out and started to shove it into a leather valise.

“Where’s the rest?”

“I spent it.” He turned to look at her and she took a step back instinctually. He had never asked her for money before even though he liked that she had it. Weston had his own money that he liked to throw around, and she was convinced his own apartment somewhere closer to his office. Somewhere, she suspected, where he could take the other women he abused. “Why do you need it? You make good money.”

“I don’t have a job right now.” He punched the wall in his anger and she flinched, trembling as he paced and stroked his jaw while he thought. “Those son of a bitches turned on me, Carlton, Walters…even Phillip. I need to pay it all back…I already have that shit bag cop Mitchell on my back. If I get it all back I can salvage it still before it spins out of control.”

It made sense now, Phillip’s behavior at Monte Carlo night, and his two friends so gleeful to see her there alone. They had already known he was in deep trouble and were there to take pleasure in Weston’s downfall. Stacie frowned at what he was saying, her mind not understanding the idea of cops being involved. There was suddenly too much information and not enough context leaving her in a swirl of confusion.

“Weston…Jesus Christ….what did you do?” Stacie could read his body language clearly and turned to bolt away but he was expecting her to and he lunged nearly taking her to the ground with his weight. They stumbled and she wiggled free of him for one victorious moment before he threw her into the desk making her topple and slide to the floor. The impact blinding her momentarily with the rush of pain. “Stop it Wes, please…”

“SHUT UP!” Weston turned his back and paced a few steps before going back to the bag to count what was there. “It’s not enough. It’s not fucking. ENOUGH! Okay okay okay. You’re going to get it. We’ll liquidate some of the assets for fast cash. This could work. I just have to strike a deal with that bitch.”

Stacie winced when she tried to sit up, everything suddenly hurting at once. She made the mistake of whimpering when she finally pulled herself to her feet. Weston turned on her, his gaze calculating and cold. She knew that only meant trouble for her. And she was tired of it. So tired of being hurt and scarred. She was tired of feeling afraid and worthless. She was just so fucking  _tired_ of Weston. She sagged against the desk, the edge of it pressing against her thigh along the edge of her forgotten thigh holster.

“You’re going to get me that money Stacie. Today.”

She could give it to him, she had the money, whatever the amount was that he needed. But she didn’t want to because she was over whatever this sick hell was. It wasn’t her fault and she hadn’t deserved any of it. Her mother’s voice tried to rise up and shout her into submission but another smoother, calmer voice drowned it out.

_‘Whose girl are you?’_

Stacie lifted her head and felt her shoulders square. Aubrey wasn’t there but the memory of her voice and her sure and steady gaze reminded Stacie that she didn’t have to do this anymore. She was a queen and she was done kneeling before him. “No.”

“What? Did you just say ‘no’ to me?” Weston started toward in her a towering tornado of rage and ill intent and her ears filled with the sounds of crashing waves. So loud and thunderous that it drowned out everything else in her mind.

It wasn’t even really a thought the way her hand went to the gun. It was ridiculously easy to draw even though she thought it would be awkward and clumsy. Aubrey had been right when she said that practice would make it fit better in her hand, make her movements fluid and reflexive. She had thought it was all so pointless at the time, the holster, the gun itself, the lessons…but she was grateful for them now. And God it hurt a part of her to raise the gun because she absolutely did not want to shoot and kill him. Yes she maybe wished he would die sometimes but she didn’t want to be the one to do it.

But if it meant saving her own life…

“Stop!”

Weston hesitated and he stared down at the gun in her hand, staring at it in disbelief. “You’re not going to shoot me.” He took a step and she fired, her finger jerking back on the trigger too roughly for a clean shot. Her hand went wide with it but she swung it back quickly, training the barrel on his chest. Not that she was aiming for him really, it was really more to show that she would pull the trigger if he forced her to. The bullet zinged past him and shattered the ugly Mikasa vase her mother had given her at her bridal shower. She always hated that vase.

He stopped dead in his tracks and held his hands up a little but she could see the twitch of his lip as he reigned in his rage. Another drop of blood rolled down her forehead and dripped off her brow. Stacie wiped at it with the back of her free hand and backed up a few steps. “I’m done Wes. I’m so done…”

Weston watched go but he didn’t advance to stop her, in fact he hadn’t so much as said a word as she limped to the door. She was almost out when he spoke again.

“You can leave now, but you’ll never leave me. Don’t forget what I have on you, don’t forget I own you Stacie.”

God. She wanted to throw up and she had to fight to swallow down the bile that rose in her throat. Stacie opened her mouth then closed it and backed out of the office, before she turned and jogged to the front door. He wasn’t behind her and she knew that but it felt like his presence was there running her down and she flung the door open desperate to get out of the house, desperate to get to the safety of Aubrey’s arms. Her bare feet pounded down the front steps and she ran to Cynthia Rose’s car.

It was hard to pull the door open with the gun still in her hand but she managed and shoved herself into the seat with a ragged sob. “Drive.”

“Holy shit, what the fuck happened to you? Why are you holding tha…”  
  
“DRIVE! JUST FUCKING DRIVE!”

Stacie covered her face and leaned forward trying to breathe past the weight in her chest as CR pulled out quickly down the drive to the gate. She couldn’t help but look over her shoulder expecting to see him but he didn’t give chase. As the gate chugged open far too slowly Weston finally came out to stand at the entry way, watching her with so much hate that she could almost feel it. Tears filled her eyes and she pulled her gaze away to stare straight ahead, forcing herself not to look back again.

“Stacie….what happened?”

“Please just take me home.”

Home. Home was where Aubrey was, not the mausoleum they were rapidly leaving behind. There was nothing there for her, nothing but pain and suffering. Cynthia Rose eyed her warily from the corner of her eye but she drove them west toward safest house in the city. For a long time neither of them said anything but Stacie could hear the leather of the wheel creaking as her best friend gripped in convulsively.

“She’s going to kill him for this. She  **has**  to kill him.”

Stacie didn’t bother to say anything to that, choosing instead to focus on not dissolving into a miserable mess of tears and heartbreak. She was going to lose everything she had worked for because there was no way she could ever go back to him. And she didn’t want to.

If he even survived whatever Aubrey would do.


	6. The Art of Renegotiation

Aubrey

Aubrey paced the length of her bedroom, hands in her pockets and brow furrowed as Doc Beale looked Stacie over. Her pulse was thundering in her own ears and she was working hard to control her breathing and tightening her control on her rapidly growing anger. It wasn’t just anger at Weston, she was pretty pissed at her own stupid arrogance. She had pushed too hard, worked him a little too close to the line without thinking about how he would react. It was sloppy work and her dad would be disappointed. His voice was so clear in her head she could have sworn he was in the room with her.

‘Shit rolls downhill kiddo. Sometimes it’s not about the power in the punch, it’s the way it’s delivered. Keep it tight, keep it close, keep your target focused on you.’

Her delivery was for shit and she had given Weston too much slack to maneuver with. And her arrogance had cost a heavy price that Stacie ultimately paid. She was sick to her stomach over it and wearing a track in her plush dark gray carpet. Aubrey turned and paced the other direction the weight of her guilt making every step heavier than the last.

“If you don’t stop pacing I’m going to drug you into a three day coma.”

The blonde stopped in her tracks and turned to face the doctor shining a light in each of Stacie’s eyes. Doc Beale didn’t look at Aubrey as she worked competently to diagnose her patient. Aubrey could respect that and settled onto the chaise in the far corner of the room. Stacie tried to smile but she could see that the movement hurt and the knot in Aubrey’s stomach tightened again making her look away quickly.

“Good, no concussion. Let’s take a look at your hip.” Doc made a few soft humming sounds as she quickly checked the area and tested Stacie’s mobility, range of motion, and ability to bear weight.

“So what’s the damage Doc?”

She knew Stacie was kidding and trying to make the situation lighter but her anxiety ratcheted up another notch and she realized she was convulsively clutching her fists. Aubrey forced herself to stillness, needing to close her eyes for a moment to create that calm center. It was more of a struggle than it had ever been in her life.

“Well you’ll be sore for a few days, at least a week with the hip, but you’ll live.” There was a long silent pause as she cleaned up the blood on Stacie’s forehead and addressed the laceration there with careful, gentle hands. “This isn’t too deep. A little Dermabond and you should be good to go. So you want to tell me how this happened?”

Aubrey frowned slightly when the doctor, while talking to Stacie looked over her shoulder directly at her. Her normally laughing blue eyes, cold and angry in a way she had never seen before. Shame made her face hot and she looked away quickly unable to meet the fury on the doctor’s face. This was why her mother had left her father, someone was always caught in the fallout and it was entirely her fault that this time it was Stacie.

“Not particularly.”

The good doctor was used to seeing Aubrey and her crew a little messed up from time to time but this was the first time that she’d had to patch up an innocent bystander before. The redhead’s shoulders tightened as she worked at sealing the cut cleanly. But she was bothered and it was obvious. As soon as she was done, Doc pulled her gloves off and tossed them in the trashcan, her gestures suddenly sharp with a quiet rage.

“Are you protecting the person that did this because you’re afraid?”

It was said so quietly that Aubrey almost didn’t hear it making it pretty clear that Doc assumed Aubrey had done the damage herself. While she didn’t actually raise a hand to Stacie she might as well have because it was her choices and actions that had led to this moment. Aubrey’s shoulders slumped and she stood slowly to make confession of her sins.

“No. Not once, not ever. Aubrey didn’t do this to me.” Stacie’s voice was sure and clear and she held Doc Beale’s gaze for a long time before she sighed and let her shoulders roll in a slight hunch. “My husband is…”

“A dead man.”

It was the first time that Aubrey had spoken since she had called for the doctor. She had wanted to play him, run him down and break him, but now she just wanted him dead. Doc Beale looked at them both evaluating the truth before she nodded and relaxed. 

“Well, as a doctor I’m bound to do no harm.” Doc Beale tucked her equipment back into her bag and closed it firmly. “Maybe being stuck in this life has fucked me up but…good. He isn’t a good man and he deserves what’s coming to him.” There was still a hardness to the doctor and Aubrey knew the red haired woman wasn’t quite done yet. It was the first time she had ever stood up to Aubrey in such a way and they had a long shared history.

Dr. Chloe Beale was a brilliant surgeon, well known and well-liked by patients and staff alike. But she had her problems like anyone else. Problems that had brought her to Aubrey’s door in need of a big favor. Some people like gambling, some liked sex, some, like Doc Beale, liked booze. It had landed the doctor in bad hit and run situation that could have cost the woman her practice, her license, everything. Aubrey had paid off someone with nothing to lose and only money to gain to take the fall for ‘stealing’ Chloe’s car and committing vehicular manslaughter. Doc Beale had been grateful and Aubrey had taken advantage of that gratitude by having the surgeon on call for times when things went sideways.

It hadn’t helped Doc’s drinking problem any and Aubrey maybe felt a little shitty about that. Sometimes. It wasn’t the easiest of working relationships at times but it had led to something deeper when work didn’t get in the way. Chloe was the only person Aubrey actually trusted with her life. Sure she trusted Happy and Lilly but they were practical people and business was business. The Doc however…she was all heart, and Aubrey trusted that. They’d become friends even if Aubrey did occasionally use her leverage to coerce the doctor into helping them.

“Walk me to the door Posen.”

Aubrey nodded and reached out to bring Stacie’s hand to her lips to kiss softly over the other woman’s knuckles. “Be right back.”

Stacie nodded with a smile and Aubrey flicked her gaze at Lilly. The smaller woman nodded and settled into a chair to wait and keep an eye on Stacie. Of course they were absolutely safe in her house but she wasn’t keen on letting the brunette out of her sight any time soon. Aubrey followed Doc Beale to the front door, hesitating before opening it.

“Look Doc, thanks. I know it’s late. I’m sorry for dragging you out.”

Chloe watched her for a long moment before she took a step closer to Aubrey and let herself finally say what she had been holding back in front of Stacie.

“Let’s be clear on things Aubrey. I don’t like what you do, it’s not right, but I owe you and I’m in too deep to ever get out now so I just deal with it. But if you ever hurt her…I swear to God I will ruin you and I don’t care if I go down in flames with you. I have lines, don’t cross mine.”

It was the harshest thing she’d ever heard the doctor say and oddly Aubrey respected it. She gave a short nod and stepped back. The challenge was unexpected but it validated why she trusted Chloe with her life. Because Doc Beale was a good person, and for all her mistakes she was strongly committed to protecting the innocent ones that couldn’t or wouldn’t protect themselves. The blonde’s lips twitched in a slight wry smile.

“I believe you Doc.”

“Good. That being said…” The ice melted from Chloe’s eyes and she nudged Aubrey’s shoulder playfully. “She’s beautiful and I’m glad I finally got to meet her. I wish it had been under better circumstances. Next time?”

“Sure. Dinner. I’ll make the shrimp and vodka sauce you like, it’ll be a thing and I’ll even invite people. You could maybe meet someone.”

The doctor gave her a look and shook her head. “If you try to set me up with your crooked cop pal one more time I’m going to stop giving you anesthesia when I pull bullets out of you.” It wasn’t an idle threat, Aubrey had experienced it once before and did not enjoy it one bit.

“What? Bec is great and you know she makes good money.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, shoved her again and swung open the door. “No.”

“You could do worse.”

Doc Beale flipped her the bird as she walked out to the driveway. Aubrey watched her get into her car and drive away before she shut the door. Happy came in from somewhere down the hall and held out the blonde’s cell phone. The usual smile she wore was gone, a scowl in its place. “Whitman.”

Aubrey’s lip curled and she took the phone from the other woman with a slight nod.

“You have my money?”

There was no preamble, it wasn’t necessary and she was working hard to keep her voice even as it was. Adding small talk would just be that much more difficult. The line was silent for a moment before he spoke. He sounded so sure of himself and so sure she would be pleased with him.

“Yes, I have it here. I’m at home if you want to come pick it up.”

She didn’t like it. She didn’t have any control over the environment and this time she wasn’t taking any chances. Aubrey shook her head and sighed. “No, you can come to The Bird. Twenty minutes.” She hung up before he could answer and handed the phone back to Happy. “Call Detective Mitchell. Tell her to meet us there.”

Aubrey headed upstairs and padded into the bedroom. Stacie was standing at the bathroom sink looking at her bruised face in the mirror and she stopped in the doorway unwilling to come closer. The brunette watched her reflection in the glass somehow understanding why Aubrey was keeping her distance.

“You didn’t do this to me Aubrey.”

“Didn’t I? This blood is on my hands too Stace and I am so so sorry.”

The guilt crashed down on her and her shoulders bowed under the weight. Stacie turned away from the counter and stood directly in front of Aubrey. “Stop. Don’t you dare take responsibility for this. Do you honestly think this wouldn’t have happened for any other arbitrary reason? Because it would. Something else would have set him off if not tonight then any other random night.”

She was silent still, unwilling to give up her blame in all this. Stacie sighed and leaned into Aubrey’s body needing to feel the warmth and safety of the blonde’s arms around her. And she complied willingly, glad beyond reason that Stacie wasn’t running for the hills yet.

“Aubrey, he hurt me because I fought back. I stood up to him for the first time in years. If you want to take credit for something, then take credit for giving me back my voice.” Stacie’s lips were soft when they brushed against her own and Aubrey sighed into the kiss feeling the knot in her gut ease marginally. “He might threaten me, he might try to hurt me, he might even ruin me…but he’ll never own me. I won’t go back to being that woman and it feels so good to be me again.”

She wasn’t about to let Weston ruin Stacie, let alone try to put his hands on her again. And while it was good to hear that Stacie was slowly rebuilding herself it didn’t really absolve Aubrey of her sins. She nudged at Stacie’s nose with her own and sighed. “I’m going to take care of it, I promise.” She let go of Stacie reluctantly and backed away so she could leave but Stacie held on tighter, face buried in Aubrey’s neck, just breathing her in.

“I want to go with you.”

Aubrey held her breath at that trying to gauge exactly why Stacie wanted to go. It wasn’t going to be a fun time for anyone and she wasn’t exactly sure she wanted the brunette to witness all that. “Stacie…”

“Please.”

She couldn’t say no to the request and didn’t really want to. However bad it was about to get she didn’t like the thought of Stacie being too far away. Maybe Stacie didn’t either. So if they were going to do this, they were doing it together.

——————————————————–

“Miss Posen.”

Aubrey looked up from lining up her shot with a simple roll of her eyes. Weston stood nervously at the far end of the pool table. Her arm came back in a smooth fluid gesture to hit the ball she had previously been so intent on. The shot went wide after the bank and cue ball rolled right past the 5 and into the corner pocket.

“Scratch.”

A long breath eased out of her as she slowly stood, eyes never leaving his face. She knew he was baiting her by even commenting so she let her lips quirk into a grin that didn’t match the predatory intensity of her gaze. Aubrey tapped the butt of her cue stick on the ground as she made her way toward him, gesturing with her free hand for Happy to close and lock the door. It was after closing anyway but she didn’t want someone to randomly wander in while she was in the middle of business.

Her eyes tracked to the camera above the bar wondering what Stacie was thinking right then, or if she was even watching at all. A part of her hoped that she wasn’t watching at all, hoped that Detective Mitchell was keeping her entertained and distracted while Aubrey let her darkness bleed all over Weston Whitman. But that wasn’t the kind of woman Stacie was and even though she couldn’t know for sure that Stacie was watching she almost felt the other woman’s presence through the lens.

Her eyes traveled back to Weston then the table as she reached into the pocket to retrieve her ball. “Did you bring my money?”

Weston nodded a little too quickly, his nervousness screaming out to everyone there. He would have been an easy mark in a card game, he had no poker face whatsoever. He raised his bag and Lilly snatched it from his hand, not giving him a chance to reach into it for anything. Just in case. Aubrey gave her a nod and Lilly opened the bag and pulled out the stacks of cash, laying them out neatly on the felt top of the table. It wasn’t enough and she let out another slow breath having already expected it.

“I know it’s not everything like we agreed but I can get it. I have the money, I have plenty of it.”

There really wasn’t anything to say so she put the cue ball down lightly on the table and rolled it to bump against the money lightly.

“That’s disappointing.” Her body coiled tightly and Aubrey pulled her fist back before rocketing it forward hard into his ribs with three quick powerful jabs. Weston doubled over, wincing away to protect his injured side. Aubrey tossed her stick onto the tabletop and reached out to yank his left arm away from his body, another hard blow catching him just below the armpit so he was too hurt to pull away. “Our deal was not for partial payment Mr. Whitmore.”

He wheezed but managed to pull his arm out of her grip. Weston moved back a couple of steps and shifted his body to guard his side as she started to circle him. It was a defensive move she had hoped for. She wanted him to fight back just enough for her to break him. “I can get it. I swear I can get it.”

“You can get it? Or you have it? Which is it Weston?” She gave a testing little jab that wasn’t meant to land just to fluster. Whitman ducked and weaved a little though not as quickly as he would have had his ribs not been sore already. “Because if you have it, it would be on my table right now with the rest. So either you’re lying to me or you’re holding out on me.”

One of her testing jabs caught him on the chin and he lashed out instinctively. It was a shot she blocked easily, leaving him wide open for a hard punch to the gut that left him on his knees gasping for breath. She backed up a step and slid the jacket from her shoulders, laying it neatly over the back of a chair. She took the time to roll up her sleeves while he tried to suck oxygen into lungs gone tight and empty. This time when she grabbed his hand he didn’t resist.

“Can get. My wife…”

What little control she had gained over her emotions burst and she kicked sharply at his ribs with the point of her toe knowing it would crack the bones easily. “Lots of excuses. Sounds like holding out to me. You know what holding out is Mr. Whitman? It’s stealing.”

Aubrey placed his hand flat on the table even as he struggled to get to his feet. Breathing was still an issue for him so she didn’t expect him to chime in with anything. “Stealing is a serious offense. Stealing from me…that’s an unforgiveable sin.” She gave a quiet hum just as her long fingers closed around the cue ball. The weight of it felt good as she lifted it high and brought it down hard to smash his hand. Weston screamed out in pain and her hand fisted around the ball, bringing it around for a hard left hook that toppled him back to the floor.

Whitman tried to crawl away from her but Happy stood directly in his path, blocking his way to freedom. “You want me to finish him, Boss?”

“Not yet.” Because Weston Whitman would die, of that she was sure. Just not until she was ready for him to die. Aubrey spared another glance at the camera before hefting the cue stick. Weston curled in on himself trying to protect his soft middle but she was fine with the parts of him that were exposed. She swung the stick around in a whistling arc to land against his unprotected back, each blow falling harder than the last to punctuate her words until the stick snapped with the force of it. “Where. Is. My. Fucking. MONEY!”

He was crying and begging for forgiveness but she just couldn’t seem to find the pity in her heart. How many times had Stacie begged him to stop? How many times had she cried out in pain? Aubrey tossed the broken half of the stick away, standing tall while he cowered like a worm on the ground. The blonde woman worked the knot of her tie down and unbuttoned the top button hoping it would cool the heat pulsing in her chest like a slow thick lava.

“I swear I can get it. I swear. My wife…” She wanted to hurt him more every time he mentioned Stacie because he didn’t deserve to think about her let alone speak of her. Aubrey stalked forward and reached down to grip one of his ankles, pulling his leg taut. Weston kicked out in a weak attempt to push her away and she had to use all her strength and focus to keep her grip. When he struggled too much she landed a swift kick to his groin and jerked his leg hard, twisting the ankle and breaking it with a sick crack. Weston screamed out again, and she smiled down at him clearly enjoying his suffering. “P-please. She has it. She has all of it and more. Please let me call her.”

Aubrey considered it a moment then settled casually on the edge of the pool table. “What makes you think your wife is going to just give you the kind of money that you owe? She’s that loyal and loves you that much?”

He didn’t know, still hadn’t put all the pieces together in his head, but he was with it enough to know lying wasn’t going to help him now. Weston shook his head and laughed humorlessly. “Fuck no. She hates my guts but I have dirt on her. She’ll pay. I know she will.”

There. There it was. The one thing she’d been waiting to hear. Aubrey snapped her fingers and Lilly held out a cigarette and lit it for her while she evaluated Weston from her perch above him. Of course he would be the type of man that needed to control everyone by holding their dirty little secrets over them. She took a long drag, letting him sweat out the seconds as she pretended to think about things. “What kind of dirt?”

She could tell he didn’t want to tell her so she gestured to Happy, the curly haired woman beaming brightly when she pulled back her leg and kicked him hard enough to flip him on his back. Weston groaned and cradled his mangled hand to his chest, trying to keep it somewhat protected. “Wait wait. I have videos. Things she’d never want to get out. It would ruin her, ruin her name and all her work. I promise she’ll pay.”

Happy brought her foot up to stomp on him but Aubrey gave a slight shake of her head and moved to kneel over Weston Whitman. The smoke from her cigarette curling around them in a pale gray haze. “It’s not about the money anymore. You see, you lied to me, you held out on me, and you come into my house and insult me by being short on what you owe. Paying up your debt doesn’t even begin to cover making us square, so unless you have something worth your life…”

Aubrey stood and turned her back on Weston, letting Happy land a few hard kicks and stomps that left him sobbing brokenly on the floor.

“Give me something worthwhile Wes.” The muscles in her shoulders twitched when he crawled the few feet to her and rested a bloodied hand on her ankle. Aubrey kicked off his hand and pushed him over with her foot. “Anything?”

“Drive. You can have the drive. It’s everything. She’s not the only one on it, you can extort very important people. People with more money than God.”

Finally. Aubrey ashed out the cigarette and smiled widely. Finally. She stared down at him, her eyes contemplative and calculating. “Where is it?”

“I can get it.” This time it was Lilly who kicked out at him and he whimpered piteously.

“You think I’m stupid? You’re going to take us to it.” Aubrey watched as her girls picked Weston up and half dragged him out the back door to the car. She waited a few moments until he was tucked in the back of the trunk before she made her way to the office behind the bar. She wasn’t sure what she was going to find when she opened the door so she steeled herself against the possibility that this was going too far for Stacie.

She cracked the door open and took a breath ready for whatever judgement she saw waiting for her. Detective Mitchell was sitting at her desk, feet propped on it, enjoying a glass of Lagavulin while watching the security monitors. Her amused smirk the only indication that she’d actually seen what happened. Stacie was sitting on the edge of the desk, close enough to the monitors to have seen if she wanted to.

“It’s time.”

Stacie turned bright eyes toward her and nodded solemnly. There was a shadow in her eyes that worried Aubrey a little and she held out a hand cautiously hoping it wouldn’t be rejected. Stacie took it, warm fingers lacing with her own and she let out a held breath.

“Okay you guys are gross.” Beca stood and pushed past them, finishing the drink as she went. “It’s making my Scotch taste bad, and the gratuitous displays of affection, jeez. Keep it in your pants maybe.” Detective Mitchell winked teasingly at them and headed out for the car, leaving them alone for a moment. Aubrey chuckled softly and turned to meet Stacie’s gaze.

“Are you…are you alright with this?”

Stacie tugged Aubrey closer, drawing her into a kiss before touching foreheads. They were still for a moment just breathing in the silence. “Not gonna lie and say it was easy to watch. It wasn’t. But am I okay with what you had to do? Yes. Yes I am. I’m with you until the end.”

It was all she needed to hear. Aubrey kissed her softly, all of her love lingering with the sweetness of the kiss. They’d make it through this and anything else that came their way. She didn’t have any more doubts about that.

——————————————————–

Aubrey looked around the plush interior of the cabin and shook her head. It was beautiful and opulent and everything that she expected from Weston Whitman. It was exactly the type of place women went to and were never heard from again. She had to hand it to him, it was pretty brilliant. No one would ever think to look on a boat for the type of evidence to prove Whitman’s crimes. And out at sea no one would ever hear the screams of his victims. He was so full of himself he had even named his boat ‘Lady Killer’, so sure no one would ever catch on to the truth.

Happy and Lilly led Weston down the few stairs to the cabin, helping him none too gently into a chair. Aubrey looked around at the living room area, reaching out to pick up a glass chess piece from the set on the table. She rolled it in her hand, using the gesture to help her keep her cool. “Nice place.”

He watched her taking everything in with a critical eye, hate etched deep in his weighty gaze. Aubrey turned to stare at him when he shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Pain and humiliation making him belligerent and brooding. But she had ways of making people talk. “Go fuck yourself.”

Aubrey chuckled and pulled her gun out of the holster. Her steps brought her around in a tight circle around him and she poked him hard in the back of the head with the barrel of firearm. “Don’t get cute Whitman. You still have a lot of bones to break. Where’s the drive?”

“Up your cu…” A scream cut his words off when she aimed and shot into his knee, obliterating the cap without so much of a flicker of emotion. Weston squeezed his thigh above his knees with his one good hand, his breathing growing erratic and she wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t pass out. Steps sounded on the stairs and Beca took in the scene with a questioning raised brow. The sound of a gunshot bringing her down to investigate. Aubrey shrugged innocently at the cop and trailed a finger over the hard plastic case of the flare gun.

“Hey Richie Rich.”

The look he gave her was dark and if looks could kill Detective Mitchell would be gasping out her last bloody breaths. “You’re a cop…d-do something.”

Beca made a show of patting her all her pockets before reaching into the inner pocket of her leather jacket and pulling up her middle finger with a smirk. “Looks like I forgot my badge at your mom’s last night.”

“You bitch.” Aubrey smacked him on the back of the head with her gun.

“Don’t make me ask you again.”

Weston sighed and pointed to the wet bar along the wall. “In the cabinet, in the bag of coffee beans.”

He watched as Beca moved to the cabinet and started pulling things out and tossing the over her shoulder until she found several bags of coffee beans. She opened them and upended them until something clinked on the floor. She picked it up and tossed it to Aubrey who caught it one handed and inspected it. Two flash drives hung from a chain and she glanced around looking for something to play them on.

She spotted a laptop and quickly booted it up, placing the chess piece next to her gun on the table. Aubrey clicked off the sound and waited for all the videos to load. They were conveniently labeled by dated folder and she opened the first. Weston was watching her carefully, noting the ticks and twitches on her face as she skipped through the videos. None of them were Stacie but all of them were horrible and sick. Some of them were just Weston, some of them had his friends. Aubrey even recognized a few of them, one of them she was sure was the man that had tried to manhandle Stacie at the charity event.

Aubrey pulled the drive out and put in the other one. There were less videos but they were longer and all of them featured Stacie. She swallowed hard as she watched the woman suffer at Weston’s hand over and over again. It was disgusting and she could tell that he was waiting for her reaction, ready to savor it. Aubrey closed the laptop and pocketed the thumb drive in her vest. The blonde whistled softly and tossed the other one back to Beca before gripping her gun lightly again.

“What’s this? Christmas in July?”

“You wanted a case, now you have one.” She jerked her head in a short nod toward Weston before holding Detective Mitchell’s gaze. None of this would be happening if Beca hadn’t played her part so well and truthfully she wanted all those son of a bitches to pay for the things they’ve done. What better way than to let the law take care of them? “Consider it a bonus for a job well done.”

Beca looked at the drive and then at Weston as if she were weighing the benefit for her career versus the amount of work it would take to see it all through. After a second she shrugged and headed for the stairs up to the deck. She gave them a parting look as if she might say something but she thought better of it and kept walking, a silent testimony to Aubrey’s control. Weston watched her leave suddenly realizing he was a pawn the entire time.

“So this was the game all along wasn’t it? Get your little friend to blackmail me just so you could loan me money I could never repay? You set me up.”

Aubrey picked up the glass piece again and gestured to the game board. “Do you play chess Mr. Whitman?”

He gave her a terrified and confused look, frowning at the question. Now that she had what she wanted he was just a loose end. He probably longed for it, longed for a moment of pain free bliss of his death. She would have if she had been in his place. And there really was no reason for her to keep him alive other than the fact that she wanted him to suffer more than he had ever suffered in his life. “Are you going to kill me or what you miserable bitch?”

“I ask because I play chess. I like seeing all the pieces on the board, and moving those pieces to exploit my opponent’s weaknesses.” She chuckled softly and as she moved to the corner of the room and raised her foot to the tip the gas can over that Lilly had left for her. “If your opponent doesn’t appear to have a weakness you create one. You see Wes…I knew who you were before you even set foot in my place. And no it wasn’t your financial prowess that preceded you. I knew your face though.” She moved to another corner and tipped another can of gas. She hadn’t prepared to have this all go down on a boat but she couldn’t deny the fact that it was a convenient way to get rid of him. She stopped in front of Weston, the stairs to the deck behind her. “I knew your face because I saw it in the wedding photo on your nightstand when I was fucking your wife in your bed. I’ve taken everything you had Weston. Your car, your job, your money, your reputation, your good looks and now…now I’ve got your wife.”

The blood drained from his face and she watched as he crumbled in on himself. She could hear steps on the stairs but didn’t turn to look because she knew who it was already. She hadn’t expected Stacie to come down to face him but she wasn’t exactly surprised by it either. Aubrey didn’t blame her for needing some kind of closure to whole affair. Weston had plagued her for long enough.

“Stacie…you bitch, you goddamned bitch. I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you.”

Aubrey took the drive out of her pocket and handed it over to Stacie without the other woman asking for it. The brunette opened her mouth to say something but Aubrey gently closed her fingers over the drive and raised it to her lips for a soft kiss. They didn’t need to talk about it ever again and Aubrey would never hold it against her. It was finally over for Stacie, and she could control her own life from this point forward.

“No Wes…you won’t. You won’t touch me ever again and the memory of you is already fading from my mind.”

Stacie leaned in for a warm kiss, showing Aubrey exactly how she felt without having to say a single word. When they pulled apart Aubrey turned and placed the glass queen on the table beside him and smirked.

“I’d kill you but that’s too easy Whitman. You’ll survive this, you’ll be damaged permanently I’m sure, but you’ll be alive. You might even be able to make a deal with Detective Mitchell to rat on your buddies. It might make your prison time a little more pleasant because make no mistake, if you survive those wounds you will go to prison. Probably for the rest of your very short life.”

“You fucking piece of trash…”

Aubrey raised the gun in her hand and pulled the trigger. It was sharp and loud but nearly as loud as the wailing keen from Weston as he toppled out of the chair trying to cradle his other wounded knee to his body. She tucked the gun away into its holster and adjusted her jacket over it, concealing it from sight. Stacie turned Aubrey toward her, tightening and straightening the dark purple tie she wore. It was sweetly domestic and she liked that Weston watched every gesture between them with disbelieving eyes.

“You should be thanking me you know. That dental work I did for you will make you really popular where you’re going. If you’re real nice to the right people you can earn yourself from protection with it.” She took Stacie’s hand when she was done fixing her tie and led her to the stairs and up onto the deck. She could hear the soft sobs from the broken man in the cabin and it only made her smile wider.

Her boat was bobbing gently next to the one they were on and she led Stacie over to it. A loud thump hit the bottom of the stairs and she peered down to see him laboriously trying to climb up. “You’re a dead woman and you don’t even know it. You think you won the game Posen? You don’t even know who you’re playing with. You’re so dead.”

Aubrey nodded. “Maybe. But not by your hand and not today. There’s a flare gun in there, if you make it to the deck you might be able to signal for help before you pass out from blood loss.” She closed the hatch door on his sputtering threats and made her way over to her boat. Stacie waited by the rail at the stern of ‘The Queen of Hearts’ and she carefully made her way across to the other vessel. When she was safely on board she gave a nod to Beca who gunned the engines to pilot them away from Weston’s boat.

Stacie laced their fingers together and they smiled at each other. No matter what happened now Weston was going to suffer for it all. Aubrey slid her sunglasses on and watched his boat shrink the further away they got. “You good, Stace?”

There was silence a moment longer before the orange glare of flames tinged the horizon where Weston’s boat dipped and rolled with the gentle movement of the water. “We’re together and I’ve never been better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for sticking with this sometimes brutal ride. This was hands down my favorite project and is left intentionally open ended in the event that I revisit this world.


End file.
